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Waypoint Network
|universe=Solar Era }}The Waypoint Network is a key faster-than-light technology used by the United Earth System Federation for long distance travel. Description & Characteristics The Waypoint Network allows users to travel immense distances relatively instantaneously, bypassing many problems of space travel including limited resources life support and environmental hazards. This high speed travel network is made up of individual travel nodes called Waypoint Gates. Not only did this allow for the rapid expansion of the UES territory but also granted high speed transit of ships from one sector to another for both military and civilian use. In order to ensure the gates are not used for unauthorised activities the Peacekeepers regulated usage of the gates for civilian ships, requiring all non-military ships using the Waypoint Network to be cleared beforehand and issued with a licence. Hyperspace Travel Each individual gate is capable of forming a hyperspace tunnel directly with another, allowing matter to be sent at FTL speeds from one point in space to another. When the system is activated the system locks onto the destination gate, forming a hyperspace tunnel between the two, circumnavigating the regular space separating the two gates. Theoretically it is possible to adjust the power of the gate, allowing users to use the gate as a hyperspace catapult, however there is a high risk of the exit window forming outside the target area, this error is known as "drifting", with two gates in use a stable receiving platform is present and there is normally no chance of the traveller drifting en route. The large amount of power required to open a connection between gates is drawn from two sources; the initial formation of the tunnel uses a series of high-performance batteries built into the gate, which allow it to tap into hyperspace by establishing a microscopic hyperspace window (nicknamed a "Pinhole"). Once the pinhole is formed, the gate can draw power from hyperspace to extend the window to its full size and allow a ship to move through hyperspace to its destination. Just before the tunnel collapses in on itself, the gate uses the remaining energy drawn from hyperspace to recharge its own capacitors in order to continue functioning. This "self-sustaining" method of drawing power from hyperspace ensures the Waypoint Gates can be used in remote locations for long periods of time without needing to be recharged, but requires provides only a limited maximum output, resulting in some time between activation periods to fully recharge without an external power source. Gates integrated into a station may be connected to generators to speed up the recharge period. The maximum size of a ship that can be transported, as well as the duration a gate can be open for are limited, as the gates cannot form a stable window above a certain size. This prevents colony construction and large cargo ships from using the gates, and forces them to use conventional travel methods. FTL Communication Each gate can transmit radio communications through hyperspace burst transmission, allowing for instantaneous communication through the waypoint network as "hyperwaves". Radio waves can also be sent across a parallel hyperspace, making each gate an FTL communications hub, in order to prevent signal clashes each gate is given a unique frequency to transmit on. By seeding the Waypoint Gates around UESF territory people can make use of real-time communication over massive distances, using the Pinhole to transmit hyperwaves through subspace. Hyperwave data is usually encrypted as anyone can set up a receiver with sufficient resources, however, the data is useless without a decryption key. Installations Depending on the level of traffic in an area more than on gate may be placed in a location, these stations can vary in size depending on requirements. ;*Hyperwave Beacon :Also known as Wapoint Beacons, these installations are purely used for extending communications range. Though beacons have a limited range in real space for receiving and transmitting information compared to gates, they can act as real-time data relay points. They are often distributed around remote areas of Federation territory that are not immediately within range of a gate. Some command ships may contain a beacon as well, providing a near-constant communications link. ;*Waypoint Gate :Single gates are often distributed on the outskirts of areas, these are automated and require remote control from a ship in order to activate. ;*Waypoint Station :In more visited areas often multiple gates will be built into large stations with defensive weaponry and a central control centre for managing the station. ;*Waypoint Hub :A massive orbital installation, currently only a single three exist and orbits the Earth, Mars and Jupiter in geostationary orbit. Hubs contain at least sixteen gates as well heavy defences and limited mobile suit forces. Each one has the defensive capacity of a small fortress, as well as its own facilities for the garrison forces. Core Components ;*Communications Array : ;*Hyperspace Generator :The heart of the system, the generator allows the formation of a stable hyperspace window so that ships can enter and exit. ;*Power Regulation System :Despite drawing on massive amounts of power the Waypoint Gates require precision power regulation in order to function properly. ;*Prometheus Mapping System :Each gate is loaded with a real-time updated version of the Prometheus Mapping System so that hyperspace corridors can be established with other gates at the target coordinates. ;*Hyperwave Communications Array : ;*Remote Interface :Automated gates require a remote access in order to activate them, this is done my using the ship's systems to control the gate. ;*Subspace Transit Driver :Also known as a Subspace Resonance Device, the driver is a key system which allows for stable matter transfer between hyperspace and regular space, without one objects suffer disruption at the molecular level when passing through a gate. The system consists of two drivers, one installed into the gate and one on board the ship passing through, this results in the passing ship to possess the same subspace resonance as the hyperspace corridor it's moving through. By assigning different gate connections different resonance frequencies the corridors can cross over (even though the odds of two corridors directly crossing over are extremely remote anyway). The lack of a Transit Driver on board mobile suits is also the main reason as to why mobile suits cannot use Waypoint Gates directly and require transporters. History Notes & Trivia *The Waypoint gates draw their main inspiration from the Stargate from the franchise of the same name. *The "Hyperwave" is a reference to the Hyperwave Relay in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. See also